I would like to sell my co-owned home.

[cindiecook]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? TN

I co-own a home with another person. We are not in a relationship, but we both live here. The house is paid for. I want to sell the house, split the money and go our seperate ways. The co-owner would like to stay here forever, but does not want to buy me out. Can I legally put the house up for sale or do we have to agree to sell? Does the co-owner have to either sell or buy me out or am I stuck here forever? The house would go to either one of us when the other one dies, there are no other relatives or children involved. Please give me some advice on how to proceed. I don't want to leave anyone in the cold, but I have to move.What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)?

 

[justalayman]

well, the first question is: do you have a mortgage on the house? If so, doing much of anything may make a "due on sale" clause active and require the immediate full payment of the mortgage loan.


with that said:


if the other party is not willing to buy you out, you can sell your share to another party. Not a lot of folks want to buy 1/2 of a house but who knows, maybe you will get lucky and find somebody.

the other option is filing a suit to partition. The courts will split up the property and if neither party will buy the other out, the courts will force it to be auctioned off and the proceeds split. Generally time consuming and often results in a less than desirable selling price. Everybody ends up taking it in the shorts so nobody is happy.

 

[cindiecook]

Thanks for the response. There is nothing owed on the house, no mortgage, we own it outright. So, are you saying I can petition the court to make him either buy me out or sell. Having another person buy my half is not workable at all. Both of our names are on the deed equally.

 

[ecmst12]

You CAN, but you'll both end up with less because of it.

 

[justalayman]

Thanks for the response. There is nothing owed on the house, no mortgage, we own it outright. So, are you saying I can petition the court to make him either buy me out or sell. Having another person buy my half is not workable at all. Both of our names are on the deed equally.

if you could find somebody willing to buy your half, yes, you could do that even with title held in equal portions.


as ecmst12 stated; the partition would work as well but like I and ecmst12 stated, it will cost you. If you cannot solve the problem, the courts will order it be auctioned and you get what you get. In todays market, that could be a considerable loss.

and then you have all the legal costs involved as well.


much better to come to some equitable arrangement that go that route.